Travel Diary: Secretary Clinton Travels to Europe and Eurasia

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey from May 31-June 7. In Denmark, Secretary Clinton will hold bilateral meetings with senior Danish officials in Copenhagen. She will also participate in the kick-off event for Green Partnerships for Growth, a bilateral initiative to promote green technology through public and private sector partnerships.

On June 1, Secretary Clinton will travel to Oslo, Norway, to meet with senior Norwegian officials and give keynote remarks at a global health conference hosted by the Norwegian government titled, “A World in Transition " Charting a New Path in Global Health." On June 2, the Secretary will be in Tromso, north of the Arctic Circle and home of the Arctic Council Permanent Secretariat, for discussions of U.S.-Norwegian cooperation in the Arctic, including on climate change and the sustainable development of untapped resources.

Secretary Clinton will travel to Stockholm, Sweden, for meetings with senior Swedish officials to discuss a range of issues, including green energy, Internet freedom, Afghanistan, and the Middle East on June 3. In Stockholm, she will also participate in a Climate and Clean Air Coalition event on short-lived climate pollutants.

Secretary Clinton will then travel to the Caucasus from June 4 to 7, where she will discuss important issues of regional security, democracy, economic development, and counterterrorism.

In Armenia on June 4, the Secretary will meet with President Sargsian and other senior Armenian officials, as well as Armenian civil society leaders.

On June 5, the Secretary will open the U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Commission plenary session in Batumi, Georgia. She will meet also with President Saakashvili and hold discussions with a broad range of political actors and civil society representatives.

The Secretary will travel on June 6 to Azerbaijan to meet with President Aliyev as well as Azerbaijani civil society leaders.

On June 7, Secretary Clinton will co-chair the Global Counterterrorism Forum Ministerial in Istanbul, Turkey, and consult with senior Turkish officials on a range of foreign policy challenges, including Syria and Iran.

First I'd like to wish secretary Clinton and team safe travels and happy returns from a productive tour of engagement.

Second; in regards to the Secretary's remarks on Syria and having a discussion with the Russians;

As a US citizen not a member of the US gov, it behooves me to ask the Secretary to remind the Russian federation that their government not only has a bilateral relationship with the US government, but that by the fact that our governmment is designed to be "by, for, and of" the people, that the Russian Federation also has a relationship with the American people, and that in order to have a good one, our respect must be earned, just as any potential leader in the US must earn our respect to the extent we're willing to elect them to office.

The respect the Russian Federation may expect to find reciprocated can only be had by proving beyond a shadow of our doubt that a true and cooperative parnership exists to protect all the populations of this Earth.

For that is the ultimate undoing of our bilateral cold-war legacy we've left to humanity at large to resolve.

I don't know what Europeans think, but I'm pretty sure they recognize the same parameters in their relationships with us, so maybe this premis simply goes without saying.

On the other hand, maybe it's good to remind folks what the deal is once in awhile.

When a nation's reputation is going down the drain or can't seem to crawl out, in the minds of US public opinion , "we the people" can make legistators do things to make life hard for those who earn our disdain.

I think the Secretary's remarks are a reflection of the general population's concern with the bloodbath taking place in Syria.

And I hope the Russians listen to her reason, because beyond Susan rice's "three possible scenarios" she spoke of recently, there is a fouth unspoken that follows from the third and least desirable scenario, and that is the release of chemical weapons now in the hands of the Assad regime.

monitoring these stockpiles is not enough, and Russia should act side by side with us to secure these materials immediately to safeguard humanity's best interests.

If this means removing Assad from power and his forces rendered impotent by military means to secure these sites and remove these materials and weapons from Syria proper, then so be it.

After codling assads regime and arming him to the teeth over the years, Russia will never hear the end of it if this fouth scenario takes place.

So it is in their own best interests to become real pragmatic, real quick.

That's the message I hope the Secretasry will consider delivering to the Russian Federation on this citizen's behalf, as well as folks bearing witness to these ongoing atrocities being committed by Assad and his governmet forces along with his proxi's.